David Drew column: WMU football making strides despite tough loss at Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS — Unlike the first trip through Big Ten country, Western Michigan University was close enough to smell a win Saturday against Minnesota.

Unlike a Week 1 lopsided-loss at Illinois, when postgame frustration mounted over failure to pick up first downs or simply complete passes, the Broncos were upset about one or two plays that got away from them and led to a 28-23 loss to the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium.

The right things have to fall in place for a mid-major football team like Western to beat a major BCS program on its home turf.

Through nearly two quarters, those things – good defense and mistake-free offense – were aligning. Western Michigan was moving the football and pounding it between the tackles with Dareyon Chance, who finished with a career-best 144 yards on 29 carries, and WMU’s plan to contain explosive dual-threat quarterback MarQueis Gray.

An injury to an opposing team’s star should never be wished upon that player, but it’s often thought that loss would increase the other team’s chance of success.

David Drew

It turned into a four-minute nightmare for WMU on Saturday.

Shortell torched WMU’s defense for 125 yards and two touchdowns in the final four minutes, 30 seconds of the first half and turned a deficit into an 11-point halftime lead.

Confidence was suddenly a wanted commodity, there were “mental mistakes,” as cornerback Lewis Toler put it, and second-guessing ensued.

A Minnesota touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in the half was a major blow. A Gopher score immediately after WMU took the ball first in the second half and drove it down for a score to pull within four points, 21-17, was deflating.

Chance was asked after the game if this loss was more frustrating than the Illinois defeat, given that WMU was able to move the ball and score points. His answer was expected: “A loss is always bad,” he said. “You work so hard every week and you finally put it all together and go out and you lose. You want to win, no matter rushing yards or passing yards, you just want to win.”

WMU senior quarterback Alex Carder saw a potential win slip through the Broncos’ fingers. He hurt maybe more than anyone else on the field or watching the game when his pass sailed out of reach over wide open tight end Blake Hammond, who would have walked in for a touchdown to give WMU a lead with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

“Overthrowing a wide-open guy for a touchdown is something that eats at me, especially because there are so few opportunities to score and put your team in a position to win a football game,” Carder said with a look of disgust. “When you miss, it sucks.”

It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially since this offense is becoming a ball-control unit with calculated explosive plays unlike the potent score-at-will units of years past.

But at least the Broncos are establishing an identity.

It is progress and that’s what you hope for this time of year as a mid-major program.

Western Michigan concludes its grueling nonconference schedule with a home game at 2 p.m. Saturday against another major conference opponent in Connecticut.

The Huskies will likely be favored but don’t put all of your chips on them.

Western Michigan’s offense, which honestly was not that bad against Minnesota, will continue to improve.

UConn’s low-scoring offense will have all it can handle with the Broncos’ defense.

It’s a defense that shut down a quarterback it expected to play the entire day Saturday.

Here’s a toast to injury-free football next Saturday at Waldo Stadium.